The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-12-10
THE LESSON OF LESSONS.

The process of public reformation
must begin with the unit of society.
purge yourself from dead works, and
when each has purged himself the
whole mass will be clean and lively.
Belief counts for naught without &C
ton; nearly every one believes that the
Christian religion is the best form of
morals and the Government of the
United States the best form of policy,
but too many bring both into contempt
by using the one as mere means of
developing material wealth, and the
other as cloak for the evil deeds. 1t
is the testimony of the best thinkers of
all ages that in the canonical books Of
Scripture there is more practical phil
osophy, as well as more perfect code
Of morals, than is to be found in all the
other books that have been written.
But of what use is it that men should
believe thus if they practice otherwise?
The trouble is that as nation we have
been living too much in faith and too
little in works. The alien anarchist
who comes hither finds our wealthy
merchants, our best lawyers, our rail
way lords, our coal barons, and many
others who would prove loyal enough
in the pinch of battle boast of the
''best form of government in the world"
and using it as if it were only the best
to make money under. Absenting
themselves from the primaries and
polls, staying at home on Fourth of
July and Decoration Day, sneering
good humoredly at effervescent patriot
ism as ''spread eagleism," regarding
Thanksgiving Day as relic of Puritan
superstition, and once in a while de-
ploring the decay Of political purity,
and even admitting that "they do some
things better in Europe" Such people
give encouragement to anarchists by
affording presumptive evidence that the
upper stratum Of society is a conglom-
crate of active greed and political in
difference. AS people we have been
drifting toward pessimism. We have
shaken our heads over every new in
stance of official or business dishonesty
and declared that honor and honesty
were perishing from among us. The
truth is that, proportionately to the
amount of public and private money
now handled, there is less speculation
than at any previous time and more
certainty of conviction and punishment
and more increasingly clear prospect
of the near advent of time in which
escape from the just punishment Of
crime shall be all but impossible. The
political need is to comprehend the full
measure of the constitution and to
have living and active faith in the
evolution of its spirit. This is equally
true as to the churches. In the Chris
tian faith there is all that is requisite
for the best form of national govern
ment and the best conduct of private
life. But or what use, we again ask, is
the faith if it slumber2 The churches
have mission to perform. If they
would prevent Christianity from falling
into contempt, they must increasingly
go out into the highways and byways
must seek the poor, the ignorant, the
prejudiced, and must strive to reconcile
them to Christianity by sympathy
rather than by patronage. Mere theo-
retical belief is worse than useless; it
is absolutely and irremediably danger
GUS. Anarchy and atheism strengthen
themselves by the examples of God
believing yet God-defying Christians
and country-loving yet country-neglect-
ing patriots. Chicago Inter Ocean.